Jandek - " Staring at the Cellophane " (Corwood 0744) 1982

Songs

Side 1: Michael (2:57) / This is For You (3:10) / Riddles Riddling Me (2:44) / Basic Themes (2:50) / I See Lights (2:34) / Rather Be Blind (1:53) / Away (2:18) / Don’t Get Too Upset (2:35); Side 2: A Letter (2:23) / Nevermore (3:01) / Sand I (2:30) / Nepoleon [sic] in Russia (3:05) / Split to the East (2:55) / Number 14 (2:43) / Blood and Bone (3:17)

Lyrics

Data

The date does not appear on the back cover as on most LP’s, only on the label on side 1 of the record. The “I” in “Sand I” is handwritten rather than typeset on both the back cover and the label.

Review excerpts

• Calvin Johnson, Op issue U, pg 60. “...ghost town music... Spooky, personal, honest, it fills the room, sets the moods. I return to Jandek, feel compelled to place Staring at the Cellophane or Six and Six on the turntable...”
• Eddie Flowers. Quoted at The History of Rock Music, Vol. 4 (website). “The focus here is on a very singular mid-tempo acoustic-guitar sound, with special attention to finger pickin’. The instrumental “This Is For You” and semi-instrumental “Basic Themes” (just a bit of wordless vocalizing at the end) stand out, and even most of the other pieces seem more concerned with the guitar than Jandek’s usual depressed lyrical statements. The big exceptions are the muted hard-strum violence of “Sound I”, which is mostly instrumental but quite different from the melancholy plucked-string approach; and a weird history lesson called “Nepoleon in Russia” [sic].”
• uncredited, Aquarius Records catalog (website), 2002?. “The cover of Jandek’s sixth album... is nearly identical to Living In A Moon So Blue. Furthermore, the open chord guitar pick & strum barely structuring the vocal wisp and waver from Jandek is nearly indistinguishable on these two albums. It may be a bold question to ask, but is the content from Jandek’s faded photographs to be seen as indicative of what can be found inside?”
• Aaron Goldberg, web review for Perfect Sound Forever. “The downward spiral continues... Maybe Jandek was deconstructing his work in order to take his next artistic step...”

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